1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to improved electrical clasp structures for transferring electrical signals to a medical electrode. More particularly, the present invention relates to a double connector for impedance cardiography.
2. Description of the Related Art
Impedance cardiography (ICG) is a medical test to determine the pumping capacity of the heart. ICG is a non-invasive and cost-effective technique for determining stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), and thoracic fluid volume (TFC, or ZO). Impedance cardiography is also referred to as “Non-Invasive Continuous Cardiac Output” (NiCCO), which requires four pairs of electrodes to perform the testing.
In prior art systems, such as, for example the IQ System (Wantagh Incorporated, Bristol, Pa.) an operator places eight ICG electrodes (four sets of two) and three ECG electrodes on the patient. In the case of thoracic electrical bioimpedance, the amount of resistance that an electrical current meets is measured as it travels through the thorax. In such systems, there is one connector per electrode.
Other devices exist in the field of electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) that also have one connector per electrode, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,944,562 and 5,295,872, both to Christensson.
To date, there is a double electrode being used for impedance cardiography by CardioDynamics of San Diego, Calif. This cable has eight branches and uses two connectors for each double electrode. However, the use of two connectors for each double electrode still requires eight individual connections to these electrodes.